Oregon is an interesting
state for ghosttowners. It was the end of the trail for the Oregon Trail and
thousands of emigrants who headed west beginning in the early 1840s, in
search of arable land and freedom. What they discovered were rich river
valleys, rain, green trees, rain, salmon-filled rivers and rain. Did I
mention rain?

That same rain causes trees to grow huge, and it
didn't take long for the logging industry to take off. Military posts
developed to protect the mouth of the Columbia River, and fishing villages
multiplied along the length of the river. Farming communities grew up in the
outback (east of the Cascades), and two rich pockets of gold mining
contributed hundreds of mining camps to the civilization of the state.
Railroads were built, and removed; their construction camps, stations, and
whistle stops becoming memories as modern diesel locomotives supplanted the old
steamers, and their need for watering stops.Winding highways were replaced by freeways: the little Ma 'n Pa
Corners with their ever-present post office, store and gas station became
rubbled sites.

Oregon is no different than any other state when
it comes to ghost towns. The state has well over a thousand locations that
can be considered. Unfortunately that same rain mentioned earlier, and the
effusive growth of greenery has made it difficult to find many of the old
sites, especially in the more humid western half of the state. Eastern Oregon
is more typical of the western states with low humidity, desert, and
pine-clad mountains.

The variations of Oregon's geography and weather
patterns make for a very unique state, and a wide
variety of ghost towns to choose from. Come with us as we explore a few
locations in the Pacific Wonderland known today as Oregon.

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THE GHOSTS

This two-site, class A &
D town is located on State Highway (SH) 218, about 80 miles south of The
Dalles. From 1862-1881 it served as a stage station/mining supply center, but
in 1881 the stage road relocated.Antelope moved to the relocated stage road and boomed.In the 1920s, when US Highway 97 was built,
it bypassed Antelope and the town faded quickly.There was a brief mini-boom in the early
1980s when a commune was located nearby, impacting the town.By 1984 the commune failed and Antelope
returned to its sleepy ways.

ASHWOOD

Jefferson
Co.

Early 1900s gold
mining camp 15 miles southeast of US 197 at Willowdale, northeast of Madras. The town has
faded, and had a population listed into the 1980s.

AUBURN

Baker
Co.

A class B
gold mining town about four miles west of US 30 at a point seven miles
southeast of BakerCity. Accessible via
four-wheel drive road. Only rubble remains where Henry Griffen discovered
gold on October 23, 1861, and where six months later 6000 people made Auburn
the largest town in the county. By 1868 Auburn
was rapidly approaching ghost town status.

BLIND SLOUGH LOGGING CAMP

Clatsop
Co.

A class A
logging camp located between Knappa and Brownsmead. Established around 1883,
the post office was established in 1910, and closed in 1924. In 1923, some
300 people were employed by the Larkin-Green Logging Co.

BOURNE

Baker
Co.

This old town is seven
miles north of Sumpter, along Cracker Creek. Sumpter is on SH 7, 20 miles
northwest of Salisbury and West of Baker City
in the Blue Mountains. In the 1870s, this
placer mining camp was full of saloons and other businesses, which lined a
short main street. A post office was in operation from 1895 to 1927. Some
mines are still producing, and a few buildings remain.

BOYD

Wasco
Co.

This is an 1870s
milling town/shipping center just east of US 197 about 12 miles south of The Dalles. The small
agricultural community has faded from 150-200 people and a handful of
different businesses. All that remains are a few occupied and abandoned homes
along with a grist mill.

CLATSOP

Clatsop
Co.

Originally located on
the west side of SkipanonRiver, about 14 miles north of Seaside. The original site was incorporated
in 1870, but the town drifted towards what is now the City of Seaside, settling in
about a mile north of that town. In 1894, it was renamed Seaside,
and the original post office closed on January 29, 1918 when the site was
actually incorporated into the town of Gearhart.
The original site has disappeared.

CORNUCOPIA

Baker
Co.

Some 20 million
dollars in gold came from this wild and wooly gold mining town full of
shootings, saloons and "sporting" ladies. Shortly after the gold
was found in 1885, 1000 miners flocked to the town. In 1898 the town
relocated a quarter mile to a new location, and it grew quickly. The mines
faded, the town died, and by the 1970s only empty buildings remained. I don't
know if they are still standing, or if the town has reverted from a class C
to a B site. The town is in the WallowaNational Forest, 12
miles northwest of Halfway. Some summer cabins have been built in recent
years.

FLAVEL

Clatsop
Co.

Near Hammond, on the site of an old Indian
village. This wanna-be port was intended to rival Astoria. In 1896, a hotel and a number of
docks were built. The huge, three-story hotel had an adjoining building with
a swimming pool, bowling alley and saloon inside. A tennis court and a riding
academy were also on site. The town failed, and in 1918, Flavel was annexed
to and absorbed by Warrenton.

This former Coastal
Defense fort was established during the Civil War (1863) and deactivated in
1947.The Army Corps of Engineers used
it as a base of operations until 1975, when the State of Oregon took over the
property and opened it up as a State Historic Park.Some of the points of interest are the old
gun batteries like Battery
Russell and the wreck of the HMS
Peter Iredale.

GALENA

Grant
Co.

An 1860s gold mining
town about 20 miles north of PrairieCity. Still shown on
the AAA state map.

GRANITE

Grant
Co.

Class D,
late 1800s gold mining town that once had 5000 people. It is 15 miles northwest
of Sumpter, in the northeastern corner of the county about 45 miles out of BakerCity. The first gold was found on July
4, 1862, and by 1900 Granite had a drug store, two hotels, livery stable, a
post office, five saloons and three stores. The gold choked off, the town
faded, and today Granite and its dozen or so citizens remain as a monument to
the past.

GREENBACK

Josephine
Co.

Class B,
early 1900s placer mining company town, on a winding dirt road three miles
north of Placer. Later the Greenback Mine produced about a million dollars in
gold before shutting down.

HARDMAN

Morrow
Co.

A class D
agricultural ghost on Oregon's
eastern grasslands. It is located on SH 207, nine miles south of Ruggs and 20
south of Heppner. Hardman was founded in the 1870s, and the post office was
established in 1881. Hotels stores, and other businesses soon followed. When
automobile and trucks came into their own, the town faded.

HORSE HEAVEN

Jefferson
Co.

Early 1900s-1930s
mercury mining town east of Ashwood. Once had a population of 100 or so.

JACKSONVILLE

Jackson
Co.

This class E
former mining town still has a population of 2000 or so, and is located on SH
238, five miles west of Medford.
Jacksonville's
roots date to December, 1851 and the overflow of miners from the California
Gold Rush. As the original "49ers" spread north into the
southwestern corner of Oregon
they found gold. Today Jacksonville
is a colorful collection of multi-hued brick and wood buildings housing an
eclectic collection of small town businesses. The buildings were restored
after World War II by the Southern Oregon Historical Society.

This class D,
early 1900s railroad and agricultural town is located along and just east of
US 97, in north-central Oregon's high grasslands, south of Biggs and north of
Shaniko.It
has a number of interesting, picturesque buildings.

KERBY

Josephine
Co.

This class E
former gold mining town is on US 199, five miles south of Selma. Kerby was established around 1850,
and through the 1850s was a major gold mining camp with some 500 people. In
1980 it still had about 500 folks, and a nice collection of old buildings.

LONEROCK

Gilliam
Co.

A crossroads travel
and agricultural center on Lonerock Creek, 15 miles southeast of SH 206, at a
point five miles east of Condon. It was originally settled in 1881, but by WW
I was nearly deserted. The town had a jail, two-story school and an Methodist-EpiscopalChurch. In 1980, 26 people still
remained.

MAYGER

Columbia
Co.

This class C
fishing village still has spectral remains. In 1985, the large warehouse
still stood on a pier hanging out over the Columbia
River.

PLACER

Josephine
Co.

Early 1900s gold
mining town on a four-wheel-drive road northeast of Grants Pass and about
four miles east of I-5.

RICHMOND

Wheeler
Co.

An 1890s agricultural
ghost in the northeastern grasslands, 11 miles east of SH 207 and north of
Mitchell. About five miles south of Service. During the years when the town
was active there was a school, M-EChurch, community
center, general store/post office, IOOF hall and other businesses. Again as
is so typical of agricultural centers, once cars and trucks came into vogue,
the towns faded and died. Richmond
was no different.

This class D,
early 1900s wool shipping center is located on US 97, in north-central
Oregon's high grasslands, 36 miles north of Madras, and 58 miles south of
Biggs. Shaniko also has its own website at: http://www.shaniko.com/indexOld.html

SUMPTER

Baker
Co.

Class D gold mining town on SH 7, 20 miles west
of Salisbury, which is nine miles south of BakerCity. Sumpter
got its start in the 1860s when three Carolinans
settled and started farming. They called their homestead FortSumter,
but when gold was found and the valley was overrun with Northern sympathizer
miners, the name was changed to Sumpter. In the
1890s, 3000-5000 folks lived here, sharing space with 36 saloons along a long
main street. The old town was wiped out in 1917 by a major fire, and has
never recovered. Today, Sumpter has full services
including four RV parks, a motel and a Bed & Breakfast inn, as well as a
1990 population of 150.

VANPORT

Multnomah
Co.

Former seaport and
company town. Actually located inside the city limits of Portland,
this town died when the dikes broke and the Columbia
River filled its low-lying site with water. Local research
should bring this site to life for you!

WHITNEY

Baker
Co.

Early 1900s railroad shipping
center for the local mining camps. Located just south of SH 7, 11 miles
southwest of Sumpter. A late 1890s/early 1900s logging camp, freighting and
commercial center whose remains include a small handful of old buildings.
When the sawmill burned in 1918, the town almost
became deserted.

·Latitude: 44.6593210 / 44°
39’ 34” N

·Longitude: -118.2807737 / 118°
17’ 27” W

·SW¼ of the SW¼ Sec 27,
T10S, R36E, Willamette Base Line & Meridian

MORE INFORMATION

Historians estimate that there may be as many as
50,000 ghost towns scattered across the United States of America.

Gary B. Speck Publications is currently in
process of publishing unique state, regional, and county guides called

These original guides are designed for anybody
interested in ghost towns. Whether you are a casual tourist looking for a new
and different place to visit, or a hard-core ghost town researcher, these
guides will be just right for you. With over 30 years of research behind
them, they will be a welcome addition to any ghost towner's library.

Thank
you, and we'll see you out on the Ghost Town Trail!

For
more information on the ghost towns of OREGON, contact us at Ghost
TownUSA.

E-mailers, PLEASE NOTE:

Due
to the tremendous amount of viruses, worms and “spam,” out there, I no longer
open or respond to any e-mails with unsolicited attachments, OR messages on
the subject lines with “Hey”, “Hi”, “Need help”, “Help
Please”, “???”, or blank subject lines, etc.If you do send E-mail asking for
information, or sharing information, PLEASE
indicate the appropriate location AND
state name, or other topic on the “subject” line.

THANK
YOU!:o)

IMPORTANT

These listings and historical vignettes of ghost
towns, near-ghost towns and other historical sites in OREGON above are
for informational purposes only, and should NOT
be construed to grant permission to trespass, metal detect, relic or treasure
hunt at any of the listed sites.

If the reader of this guide is a metal detector
user and plans to use this guide to locate sites for metal detecting or relic
hunting, it is the READER'S
responsibility to obtain written permission from the legal property owners.
Please be advised, that any state or nationally owned sites will probably be
off-limits to metal detector use. Also be aware of any federal, state or
local laws restricting the same.